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System to determine casino offersRelated Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Including Means For Processing Electronic Data (e.g., Computer/video Game, Etc.), Credit/debit Monitoring Or Manipulation (e.g., Game Entry, Betting, Prize Level, Etc.)System to determine casino offers description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060240893, System to determine casino offers. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS COP [0001] This application is a continuing application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/570,335, filed May 15, 2000; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/187,269, filed Mar. 6, 2000, for "Revenue-Managed Casino Offers". The contents of each of the above-specified applications are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to systems for offering products to casino players. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for determining a product to offer to a casino player based on various variables relating to the product. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART [0003] Casinos employ many systems designed to influence the behavior of casino players. These systems are designed to encourage behavior which is beneficial to the casinos. For example, in order to maximize an amount of time casino players spend actively gaming, casinos provide casino players with well-functioning gaming equipment, bright lighting, and free drinks at game machines and tables. [0004] In order to encourage frequent and high-stakes gaming, casinos offer products to qualifying casino players for reduced prices. These products are offered to casino players who have met, certain qualifying conditions, such as wagering more than a particular amount over a specified period of time, losing more than a particular amount per visit, or the like. For example, a manager of a casino identifies, using casino records, a casino player who loses an average of $5,000 each time he visits the casino. The casino manager then offers the casino player a hotel room and meals usable any time the casino player wishes, for no cost or at a substantially reduced cost. The products are offered under the assumption that maintaining the player as a customer is worth the cost to the casino of the offer. It should be noted that the product offers discussed herein comprise the offering of goods and/or services to casino players for free or for a certain price. [0005] Although the foregoing types of offers were originally reserved for "high-rollers", casinos are now offering products to a wider range of casino players based on their gaming histories. These products are also offered under the assumption that maintaining a casino player as a customer is worth a cost of a particular product offered to the casino player. However, since it is impractical for a casino manager to manage product offers on a large scale, casinos have implemented automated systems for determining and distributing product offers to casino players. [0006] These automated systems are designed so that casino offers are available to all casino players as a "reward" for frequent gaming, high wagers, or other behaviors. According to these systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647 to Boushy, a casino player's gaming sessions are tracked using a tracking card, which is a card having a magnetic strip encoded with player information. In operation, a casino player slides the tracking card into a card reading device of a game machine prior to initiating a gaming session with the game machine. The game machine retrieves the player information encoded on the tracking card, collects gaming information during the gaming session, and transmits the gaming information and the player information to a central database so that the gaming information can be associated with the casino player. At periodic intervals, the database is analyzed to determine whether to offer a product to the casino player, what product to offer, and at what price. [0007] In conventional systems, such as the one described in the article "Getting Your Share Of Free Stuff", .COPYRGT.1997 Casino World Holdings, Ltd., the database analysis proceeds as follows. First, metrics are calculated based on the gaming information associated with a casino player, including an average amount per wager, a total amount wagered per session, an average loss per session, a total loss, a session theoretical win, or other gaming-related data. Next, the metrics are used to determine a product offer. In this regard, the central database stores tables which associate gaming metrics with specific product offers. For example, a database table may associate a discounted hotel room with a $25 to $50 average wager, a free hotel room with a $50 to $100 average wager, a free hotel room and meals with a $100 to $150 average wager, and so on. Therefore, at specified periods, a product is offered to a casino player based on the tables and on gaming information associated with the casino player. Alternatively, a casino player may be presented with the tables and also with metrics corresponding to the casino player's gaming history. In the latter case, the casino player approaches a casino representative to redeem an appropriate product. [0008] Although the conventional automated systems allow determination and management of product offers on a large scale, their static nature precludes easy adaptation to changes in the market for offered products. For example, hotel rooms, show tickets, and the like may be sold for one price during weekdays and four times that price during certain events, such as a championship boxing match, COMDEX, or other popular event. Accordingly, use of static tables often results in a situation in which an increase in a casino's profit resulting from a product offer is less than a profit which could have been realized by the casino by selling the product through conventional retail channels, such as a retail store, an online store, a catalog, a toll-free access number, or the like. As a result, a casino is unable to maximize a difference between an increase in the casino's profit resulting from a product offer and a profit which could have been realized by the casino through a conventional sale of the product. [0009] Moreover, conventional systems do not consider wasted inventory in determining whether to offer a product to a casino player. Using the above example, hotel rooms are only offered to casino players wagering at least $50 on average. This rule does not change, even if a hotel room will be vacant on a particular night. Accordingly, no revenue is generated by the hotel room where revenue may have been generated by offering the hotel room to a casino player averaging less than $50 per wager. [0010] In view of the foregoing, what is needed is an efficient system for determining appropriate products to offer to a casino player in a manner which increases casino profit to a greater extent than conventional systems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] In consideration of the above needs, Applicants have discovered a system to determine a product to be offered to a casino player based on an approximate maximum price for which the product may be sold through a retail channel. Advantageously, the approximate maximum price can be used to determine an approximate profit which may be realized by selling the product through a retail channel. The approximate profit can be compared to a potential increase in a casino's profit due to offering the product to a casino player, and a product to offer can be thereby determined in a manner which maximizes casino profit with respect to the product. [0012] In one aspect, the present invention relates to identification of a product which may be offered to a casino player based on gaming activity of the casino player, and determination of an approximate maximum price for which the product may be sold through a retail channel. [0013] In another aspect, the present invention concerns reception of player data corresponding to gaming activity of a casino player, determination of an approximate maximum price for which the product may be sold through a retail channel, and determination to offer the product to the casino player based on the player data and on the price. [0014] The present invention also concerns a system to receive player data corresponding to gaming activity of a casino player, to identify a product to offer to the casino player based on the received player data and a first rule, and to determine a price for the product based on a second rule corresponding to the product. [0015] With these and other advantages and features of the invention that will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attached hereto. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a casino system according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a controller according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the player database of FIG. 2; [0019] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a tabular representation of a portion of the product database of FIG. 2; Continue reading about System to determine casino offers... Full patent description for System to determine casino offers Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this System to determine casino offers patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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